Sunday, May 25, 2014

DAVIDsTEA: Pumpkin Chai, A Tea Review

I had a bit of a rambunctious kinda day, lots of energy and spunk. I believe it was a combination of having a really good day of hanging out with friends and gaming yesterday and the promise of storms today. Also I found out that there is a massive hurricane out in the Pacific Ocean that has my name, I have been waiting for a Hurricane Amanda pretty much my whole life. I really hope that either its path or the tropical upheaval brings lots of rain to the Midwest so that the drought conditions lessen even more. That would please me immensely.

Well, I did it again, I forgot that seasonal teas are in fact seasonal and have missed the season to write the review for this tea. Oops, I promise that in the future when I get a seasonal tea I will not just write about it in my tea notebook, but will blog about it immediately. Pumpkin Chai from DAVIDsTEA was part of their 2013 Fall Collection and is a blend of Black Tea, Cinnamon, Cloves, Lemon Peel, Squash, Carrots, Caramel Bits, and Pumpkin Candies. This tea really caught my eye when I saw that it was not only pumpkin spice themed, but also has squash bits! The aroma of this tea is very sweet and creamy with extremely strong spices. The cinnamon and cloves really overpower the rest of the aromas, but there is a faint hint of malt, pumpkin, and caramel under the potent spices.

As this tea sits and steeps, the delicious aroma of pumpkin and spices float out of the cup and around the room. The aroma is a blend of earthiness with much milder spices, and squash. Specifically the aroma of acorn squash and pumpkin bread. The aroma of the wet leaves makes me rather hungry for one of my favorite bread types. The liquid without the leaves is rather sweetly spiced with notes of creamy caramel and squash.

The initial impact of the taste is a tingly and numb feeling from the spices, it is a little overwhelming, but it quickly fades to mellow sweetness and spices. Adding cream and sugar (this is a chai after all) dampens the overwhelming spices, and now there is a rich caramel taste and strong squash notes. I still think that the spices are too strong, so much so that a few minutes after starting to sip this tea I started getting red in the face and breaking out in hives...sometimes that happens to me when I have too much cinnamon. I was really happy that this tea tasted like squash, but the abundance of spices really made this tea not a favorite.

No relation to today's craft project, but it is what I did yesterday

Today's fun crafty tutorial is quite high on my 'to make' list. It is a Desk Organizer made from cardboard, there are no written instructions, but luckily the photos make it seem pretty straight forward. The only problem is creating a template. If you create this be sure to comment with a photo, I would love to see it!

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Disclosure

I will give each tea a fair and honest review, regardless if it was bought by me, gifted, or sent for reviewing purposes. Each tea will be treated equal and any poetic waxing or complaints are a result of the tea's quality and not how I received it. Also I do not receive any compensation (other than the tea which I review) for my reviews or this blog.